MASON COUNTY, MI -- If all goes as planned, a beautiful stretch of Michigan road will be dedicated to fallen Michigan State Police Trooper Paul K. Butterfield II.

The office of state Rep. Ray Franz Franz, R-Onekama, said legislation will recognize Butterfield on a section of M-116 in Mason County. The effort was approved by a House committee recently.

The House Bill 5257 was approved unanimously by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, according to a press release from Franz’s office.

The measure names the stretch of M-116 along the Lake Michigan shoreline leading into the Ludington State Park from the Lincoln River north to the Big Sable River as the "Trooper Paul K. Butterfield II Memorial Highway."

"It's an appropriate way to remember Paul Butterfield and his service to our communities with this beautiful stretch of highway because he loved nature and wildlife," said Franz, R-Onekama in the press release.

HB 5257 is now before the full House for consideration, but representatives from Franz’s office said they don’t believe there will be any trouble getting it approved.

Eric Knysz, 20, of Irons, after a six-day trial in Ludington, was convicted of fatally shooting Butterfield in the head after the trooper pulled over Knysz and his wife, Sarah Renee Knysz, in a traffic stop around 6:20 p.m. Sept. 9, 2013, on Custer Road north of Townline Road in rural Mason County’s Freesoil Township.

Butterfield had called in the truck’s license plate number and his location before getting out of his patrol car. That led ultimately to the couple’s capture.

Heather Lynn Peters covers police and fire, and writes a statewide food column, The Spunky Kitchen, for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email her at hpeters@mlive.com and follow her on Twitter @HLPNEWS.